Lenora Cook escaped public housing and looks to be a spark for others

Lenore Cook credits her teachers for giving her the confidence to succeed.

KAREN ROGANOV / Daily News

By KAREN ROGANOV / Daily News Contributing Writer

Published: Friday, March 14, 2014 at 02:57 PM.

NICEVILLE — Words spoken from a mother to child can leave their mark: “You’ll never amount to anything if you leave here.”

Lenora Cook found otherwise.

“My mother wasn’t cruel, that’s just what she believed,” Cook said recently.

Cook broke free from her family life of dependence on government subsidies while living in public housing in Mobile, Ala., and has a mission to help others achieve success.

“I beat the odds because I wanted to,” she said.

Now with a Ph.D, Cook teaches nursing classes at Northwest Florida State College. At 59, she also flies weekly in a turbo-prop plane to transport patients for Lifeguard, an air ambulance company.

She also is a volunteer at the Red Cross, teaches life support skills at Eglin Air Force Base and recently retired as a lieutenant colonel after 23 years of service, including nursing in combat zones.

She and her husband, Mike Lehnen, tend real estate investments together and she can be seen traveling the town in her convertible red BMW.

The oldest of five children, her siblings did not graduate from high school. Her parents divorced early on in her life. Her mother quit her fast-food job because she made more money from the government handouts, Cook said.

“‘Why waste your time in school? They don’t pay you. This is free money,’ ” her mom counseled her as she spent it on cigarettes and alcohol.

Cooke was mocked at school for being skinny, having mismatched or dirty outfits and being the teacher’s pet.
But because of encouragement from teachers and her father, an illiterate West Virginia coal miner, she believed there was another way.

With a grant for good high school grades, Cook was on her way to become a licensed practical nurse.

Her mother died of lung cancer halfway through Cook’s LPN program. By the time she achieved suc-cess, her father failed to recognize her after succumbing to Alzheimer’s disease.

“But I feel like I won the Lotto,” she said of her turnaround story.

“We all need to be encouraged, so that’s now why I’m there, to be that mentor, to be that spark and inspiration for other people.”

Reader comments posted to this article may be published in our print edition. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published
without permission. Links are encouraged.

NICEVILLE — Words spoken from a mother to child can leave their mark: “You’ll never amount to anything if you leave here.”

Lenora Cook found otherwise.

“My mother wasn’t cruel, that’s just what she believed,” Cook said recently.

Cook broke free from her family life of dependence on government subsidies while living in public housing in Mobile, Ala., and has a mission to help others achieve success.

“I beat the odds because I wanted to,” she said.

Now with a Ph.D, Cook teaches nursing classes at Northwest Florida State College. At 59, she also flies weekly in a turbo-prop plane to transport patients for Lifeguard, an air ambulance company.

She also is a volunteer at the Red Cross, teaches life support skills at Eglin Air Force Base and recently retired as a lieutenant colonel after 23 years of service, including nursing in combat zones.

She and her husband, Mike Lehnen, tend real estate investments together and she can be seen traveling the town in her convertible red BMW.

The oldest of five children, her siblings did not graduate from high school. Her parents divorced early on in her life. Her mother quit her fast-food job because she made more money from the government handouts, Cook said.

“‘Why waste your time in school? They don’t pay you. This is free money,’ ” her mom counseled her as she spent it on cigarettes and alcohol.

Cooke was mocked at school for being skinny, having mismatched or dirty outfits and being the teacher’s pet.
But because of encouragement from teachers and her father, an illiterate West Virginia coal miner, she believed there was another way.

With a grant for good high school grades, Cook was on her way to become a licensed practical nurse.

Her mother died of lung cancer halfway through Cook’s LPN program. By the time she achieved suc-cess, her father failed to recognize her after succumbing to Alzheimer’s disease.

“But I feel like I won the Lotto,” she said of her turnaround story.

“We all need to be encouraged, so that’s now why I’m there, to be that mentor, to be that spark and inspiration for other people.”